The Namikaze Riders
by EpikalStorms
Summary: They were heroes, but it was not confirmed if they had any powers. They never took off their helmets and never spoke. They always appeared on their motorcycles and always departed after a battle in the same fashion, before anyone can hope to approach them. But that wasn't the strangest thing about them. There was one thing even more odd; they protected the mutants.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

_**-Two Motorcycles-**_

The New York skyline was a beautiful sight, be it day or night. Thousands of buildings and bridges dotting it's picturesque view, many of them quite famous throughout the country and world. There was the Empire State Building in Manhattan, the brand New World Trade Center, the Chrysler Building, the American International Building, the Citigroup Center, the Trump Building, Rockfeller Center, Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, and so many others—including the new, recently repaired Stark Tower; widely acknowledged as the headquarters for the famous group of heroes that had saved New York(and the world) around three years before.

The Avengers.

However, New York—as beautiful as it can be, being the subject to millions of tourists every day—it, like every human establishment, had a dark side.

An ugly side.

As just recently announced, world wide, humans had a rarely activated gene, now labeled the X-gene. Very few would ever have this gene actually show itself in the body's development—or mental growth. The gene allowed these rare teens to gain some sort of powers, like out of a fantasy series.

But humanity is known for it's more negative traits. Greed, jealousy and for hating anything different from themselves. The majority of those who do not have the new powers sought to put those who did in a negative light, and the public soon out-casted all 'mutants,' as if they were of a separate, lower race—despite them putting their own heroes up on pedestals for saving them daily with similar powers. Since these heroes were not 'mutants,' as their own X-genes never showed itself or their not even of the planet Earth, they were not seen as mutated humans. It was a hypocritical belief, but that is how the thoughts of most went. Any mutant trying to help or save someone, still—their attempts or successions were never seen as helpful in any matter. If the person saved or trying to be aided was a hater of mutants, the offered hand or ability was venomously rejected.

Overall, mutants lived quite the sad life, if their powers were ever found out. Which they were, usually—it's a bit hard to hide a power you cannot control, and all those who have control or are learning have to seek aid form another mutant—in which case their mutant status would then be recorded by the human government.

It was this world that our two protagonists found themselves in, waking up from a short but deep sleep. It was odd—they'd both lost consciousness in their homeland, a world of warriors and honor, only to awaken in this messed up land's sense of misguided honor and prejudices and hypocrisy. It turned their own views upside down for a while, but they eventually righted themselves after learning the languages of the land—English, German, Spanish, and Russian—to go along with their own tongue of Japanese. They took scouting missions in the shelter of the night to delve into the inhabitants' minds to get a better knowledge of the culture, and only when they felt adequate did they truly enter the world incognito.

And they were not amused by what they saw.

These mutants tried their best to protect those who spat at them and degraded them—well, those that were not pushed off the edge due to such treatment, as rightfully so!—and gave no thanks. And it was these mutants, they both agreed, that needed such protection instead.

So it is here, an entire year after Naruto and Sasuke's arrival into the new dimension, and four years after the battle between Loki and the Avengers, that you find us, reader. The two lost shinobi searched relentlessly for a way to return to their home world, at first, then gave up. The action was quite impossible, even given both their masteries of Fuinjutsu, and it wasn't like they had anything to go back to, in the end. Only a desolate world ravaged by that madman, Madara.

So they turned their shinobi honor and skills toward this new world instead. This new people, these mutants. Naruto changed the wording of his nindo just barely, and Sasuke began to share it as well.

_'Never to go back on my word, and never to run away. To protect The Precious People is forever my Ninja Way.'_

The Uchiha felt the rhyme was childish, but it fit. And the precious people were now the mutants. As they both made each other a promise. No one in this new world would be allowed in their hearts aside from each other. Both took up the Namikaze name and were ready for a fresh start.

But they had their work cut out for them. Even though these humans were weak-willed most of the time and practically skill-less in the warrior arts, they were absolutely stubborn. Like cockroaches. Like insects, like Madara but less evil.

Yeah, it would take a while to knock them down a collective peg. But they would do it, for The Precious People. They'd made a promise. And it wasn't going to break.

**-switch-**

Pleasant Avenue was a busy street on Saturday evenings. Traffic was heavy and it was as if all of New York decided to try and crowd it as much as they possibly could. The sky was always a dull gray, during the fall seasons, and starless. It was never dark in the City That Never Sleeps- the street lamps turned on at 6 pm and the hundreds of blinking neon signs and car lights crowded your sight like a thousand miniature LED penlights, always in your vision wherever you tried to look, aside form the bleak and unknown alley ways that were on every street, shrouded in darkness and all types of illegal activity.

It was just during the seven o'clock rush, when everyone and their grandmother was attempting to get home from when work had let out around two hours before. People dodges their way through the practically parked rows of cars that were caught in the maddening traffic across to the opposite side of the street, taxi horns blared every second and you would never get a moments peace. People ran races down the sidewalks and gave their best taxi-calling whistles or attempted to catch their subway train on time without the pulsing crowds around them accidentally spilling their just bought, still-hot coffee or lattes on pristine white work clothes.

And it was on Pleasant Avenue that a slowly becoming common and eager-awaited sight appeared. Twin black motorcycles threaded their way through the still traffic in mere blurs, accelerating past the speed limit in ways no one could imagine—but you could catch a glimpse of the now famous riders if you squinted and turned your head to just the right angle.

They were both equal and opposite in every way. Their outfits were cloned—stylish motorcycling helmets with the faceplate blacked out, and full-on motorcycling suits, complete with leather jacket, steel-toed combat boots, leather pants, leather gloves and all. Or, it looked like leather. No one had actually been able to verify this fact.

Now came to differences. They were like Ying and Yang. The one on the left, always the left, had a black helmet without any design. His jacket was a dark navy, almost black. His pants, gloves and boots were all black, and it looked like he might have a red shirt underneath it all, but the newspaper photos were always too grainy to see clear enough.

The one on the right—always the right—wore a white motorcycle helmet, and white jacket, boots, pants, and gloves. His shirt was confirmed to be orange, but the jacket was always zipped up, so it wasn't like anyone ever saw it.

One the back of both their jackets, however, was an insignia. It was designed using oriental-looking symbols. Finally, when the matter was taken to a Japanese historical specialist, the public was informed that the kanji was a very old form of Japanese letters, spelling out the word Namikaze. Which meant, however vaguely, Waves and Wind.

So that was what these mysterious riders' media names were. The one in white was called Wind, or Kaze, while the one in black and navy was called Wave, or Nami. The Namikaze Riders(another title the public had given them) were first entitled this in an edition of the Daily Bugle. It just escalated form there.

They were heroes, but it was not confirmed if they had any powers. They never took off their helmets, which was mostly understandable no matter the curiosity of the media—they had identities to keep, after all—and never spoke. They always appeared on their motorcycles and always departed after a battle in the same fashion, before anyone can hope to approach them. They were never caught for an interview and barely ever even glanced at anyone other than their opponents, even when they had a vast crowd of spectators taking pictures and screaming for their attention. Their skills were amazing, and it was widely speculated that they were ninjas in some way, maybe samurai or some type of fantastical warriors. The way they fought was always awe-inspiring and graceful, making it hard not to watch. They'd beaten many a villain and criminal by just their moves alone. The enemy was too stunned to fight back. The duo was never seen associating with anyone and always disappeared off the charts and records until their next appearance. They were never alone, always with each other, and always in motions, barely ever pausing moving.

But that wasn't the strangest thing about them. The Namikaze Riders were famous for one thing above all the rest of their oddities and mysteries.

They helped the mutants.

This confused so many and shocked them into asking questions that were never answered. Why would such skillful heroes support and even protect those monsters, those freaks of nature? However, those who had no qualm with the existence of the mutants, and who viewed them as just as human as they, were relieved the super powered teens and above finally had someone—two someones—to aid them.

It was a large, long-going argument between the two sides, and was almost always in discussion on the tabloids.

Back to Pleasant Avenue, the crowds lurched forwards and eyes were opened wide in order to catch a glimpse of some action. Car doors opened and horns honked—it wasn't like the traffic was moving anyway, anyways, the people reasoned—and the tourists and the like all vied for some photo opportunities.

It wasn't until a rather large crowd of thugs came tumbling out of an alleyway baring metal poles, small guns and makeshift weapons of all kinds that they realized what had brought the Riders there, to this street. The gang paused as they noticed the approaching sound of twin motorcycles; and the one they were chasing—a teen girl wearing ratty jeans, sneakers, a plaid shirt and a Yankee baseball cap—froze in the middle of the avenue she'd stumbled onto in runny away. The crowd around her, she realized, was too caught up in trying to get a glimpse of the infamous Namikaze Riders to acknowledge her presence. So she waited to see what would happen. And she wanted to see them, too. They were here to help her, she thought. She was finally safe.

The ringleader had no time to even gather up courage or decide to run for the hills, due to the two gloved fists that were suddenly implanted in his face. His jaw instantly shattered and his nose made snapping sound. One could mistake him for a rather large bullet of a gun as he went flying back and smashing through a taxi's windshield. Fortunately, all passengers and driver had already exited the vehicle, and were now standing to the side gaping at the show of brute strength form the bikers.

One of the gang members futilely attempted to grab hold of Kaze's jacket and catch the Rider in a choke-hold, but Nami appeared behind him and, in a blur of movements, the young adult was passed out cold on the cement, his metal pole clattering to the ground second later. Kaze didn't even pause once his jacket was free, he hadn't even stopped when the thug had a hold on it. With an expertly executed flip over another opponents head. Two fingers jabbed into the doubled over male's spine, and he was down. As soon as he landed on his feet, the white-clad media-proclaimed 'hero' lunged forward and caught an oncoming attacker in the gut. The six remaining men—large, massive, bears of men, turned tail and tried to run, then, but Nami raced after them and, like lightning had struck, they were sprawled out on the ground, Kaze dealing with the final two.

The street had long since broke into a thousand of excited murmurs, and as soon as the audience noticed the fight was over, they shouted and called out to the Riders, asking for autographs and, in the just arriving new-crew, interviews.

The Namikaze Riders did not pause in strider, however, and made their way swiftly to their bikes. They swung a leg each over their pitch black Suzuki GSX-Rs and kicked the cycles into gear. The roar of engines overcame the screaming of the crowds, somehow, and the Bikers were off.

But not in the direction everyone was expecting.

In fact, it came as almost a surprise. The Riders usually left the rescued-from-angry-mob mutant for the infamous X-Men to come pick. up. Though, that mutant wasn't usually a homeless girl, as this young teen so obviously was.

Because the Riders were heading straight toward the frozen thirteen-year-old, who still stood in the center of the street. She watched them approach with a deer-in-the-headlights look about her, and many watched on with a similar wide-eyed look.

What were the Namikaze Riders doing this time?

**-switch-**

Jubilation Lee had never been an overly-lucky girl before. In fact, she thought it was quite safe to say that her luck was rotten. She'd only gone into that alley-way because she's assumed it was empty—all the others on this street were full, so it made sense that there had to be one that everyone avoided for some reason or another.

And that reason was made clear to her soon enough. Not even fifteen seconds after making the idiotic decision of entering the dark abyss that was locally-nicknamed 'Irreverent Alley.'

They were called the Othersiders. And they were a gang.

She'd run into tons of gangs before and survived since she could distract them with her small explosions. But these guys were practically gorillas! Tall, muscle-y, shirtless gorillas with nasty hygiene and roughed up jeans and brass knuckles. They took one look at her, and glared. She squeaked and—gods, Jubilee, you're an _idiot_—brought up her mutant powers, feeling somewhat brave.

Then they all glared harder, going for metal polls and pulling out tiny little drug-store issued pistols, and she turned right around and made a run for it.

Alleys never made good temporary homes anyway.

Maybe Karma had decided she'd gotten enough bad luck for the week, however, since—Oh good mother of the Big Bad Apple, the Riders came! For _her_! It it hadn't even been three second out of the alley! She was so surprised, she stopped right in the middle of the busy traffic. Thankfully, the crowds of people were too busy watching in anticipation to look in her direction, so she decided to stay and watch.

She'd always wanted to meet the Namikaze Riders, ever since she'd first heard of them in that newspaper she'd dug out of the Starbucks' waist basket. They were so cool, and amazing ,and they saved people—people like _her_! The kinds of people that most everybody hated and called names! She'd always dreamed about them coming to rescue her and maybe taking her to the X-men. It would have taken care of almost every problem—she'd have a safe place to stay, get to be with others like her who didn't hate her or tried to kill her, and she'd get to learn how to control her stupid powers!

The fight was as amazing as she ever dreamed, and more! Their battle stances were pretty bad ass, and Jubilee was awed, struck speechless at their skills. It was really as if they were real-life ninjas, but in the disguise of bad-ass bikers. So cool.

And when they headed in her direction, she didn't know what to do. This hadn't happened before, in any of the stories she'd heard _or_ read about them. The Riders never approached their rescuee, ever. They always left them for the X-men. What was so different about her? She hoped it wasn't cuz they felt sorry for her—she looked like a bum, in these clothes. And that's what she was. Just another homeless teen girl living in the slums. But that didn't make her special. So why are they—

The bikes pulled to a stop and the crowds hushed just a bit in anticipation. Jubilee was paralyzed, unable to move. She had no idea what to do. The Rider in white, Kaze(her favorite one, though Nami was also really amazing and cool and awesome and—yeah) didn't even dismount, same as the dark-clad Rider. They stared at her for a second, and Jubilee thought that it might be the longest anyone had ever seen them stay still for. Until, Kaze held out a white gloved hand to her and Jubilee's heart pumped so incredibly fast, and—

"Come with us."

The street went _silent_.

Just Pleasant Avenue, of course, so the fact that the crowd around them was speechless, jubilee too, didn't mean it was quiet at all, as there was all of New York surrounding them to think about. But the level of noise instantly went down a good five levels as everyone stared, eyes practically bulging.

Then, it was like Jubilee's body had a mind of it's own. Not even completely aware of her movement, she grabbed that outstretched hand and clambered onto the infamous black motorcycle, right behind Kaze—butterflies were thundering in her stomach, and her face turned red under the shadows of her baseball cap. She wrapped her arms around him tightly as the motorcycles sped away, eyes shut so tight she didn't see anything.

She didn't even open them when she heard the crowds around her, suddenly above her—_above_ her?—scream, then shout in awe and excitement. Didn't open them when the same crowds that were suddenly behind and, more bewilderingly, _beneath_ her—_beneath her_!—shouted out and buzzed with amazement.

Too excited she was that, due to her tightly shut eyes, she didn't see the wheels Riders' motorcycles glow a faint blue. She didn't witness the Riders ride those bikes straight up the side a skyscraper.

But she sure felt that gravitation pull of the earth change.

It was exhilarating, for sure. And sitting behind her favorite Namikaze Rider, on his bike, with him taking her for a ride alongside the other Rider, was just a dream come _true_.

**-switch-**

**Yeah, I know. I have like, a million other stories to update. But I just couldn't not write this down. And then, so excited I was to complete it in two hours(pffft, who needs proofreading anyways? I never do that for any story, ever o-o), as I usually am with all my stories as due to my utter lack of patience—I updated, of course.**

**Please don't kill me *crawls under bed to cry***

**Anyway, Naruto and Sasuke are about sixteen in this, right now, and Jubilee is, obviously, thirteen. No, she and Naruto are not going to be a pairing(I think I'm gonna keep this fic gen), though Jubilee is one of my favorite X-men, right there after my favorite, Scott Summers. This is just Jubilee having a little fangirl crush—and we all know those are no little conditions. I should know. I have tons of them :P**

**Anyway, read, review. Please tell me how you liked it, what you want to see. I would LOVE your review to be more than two sentences, but I'm not putting any requirements. I jut wanna instill some good reviewing habits in all my lovely readers. **

**God knows I need them. I'm trying to review every chapter of all the stories I read, but that habit still needs some work. Why don't you guys do that along with me?**

**Arigato, and thanks for review(*stares* which you _will_, of course),**

**~Scylar X**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

_**-Rasenringu Technique-**_

"Why are we here, Furry-bear?" Tony asked, eyes twinkling. He saw the black American's eyebrow twitch, microscopically of course, but it was still a success. A point to the man in the iron suite, it was!

Fury set the morning newspaper on the table and looked up, his lone eye sweeping over them with a calculating glint. "There's your reason."

Thor looked down at it intently. "'Shop Cardigans and Gucci Boots Sale at Macy's. Easy Returns, Online or In-Store!'" He looked up, confused. "But, Director, what does clothing have to do with a mission?"

The man sighed, flipping the paper to the front headlines. "Not that. This."

They all looked down.

"Unchain your tablet form wi-fi," Bruce raised an eyebrow, reading aloud. "Shop, Surf and Blog On The Go..."

Tony chuckled. "Stop trying to be cool, Fury, and just show us what you called us to see."

The director of SHIELD rubbed the bridge of his nose and reached down, flipping through the paper again. This time, he looked until he found the front page, then slapped the paper back on the table. "That. _That_ is why I brought you here."

_**Namikaze Riders Take Mutant Girl for a Ride**_

_by Front-Line reporter Norah Winters_

_From past instances, we all know the mysterious Wind and Wave Riders, Kaze and Nami, to be the strong, silent, and quick-to-get-things-over-with type of heroes. Never before have any of us citizens of New York heard them speak, or been able to speak to them. They leave after every appearance and our news crews have no time to approach them before they vanish again._

_But in this recent spectacular event, we have been informed of the Riders taking a new choice. They approached their latest rescuee, a young, homeless mutant girl we were unable to get the name of, and the White Rider, Kaze, held out his hand, asking her to come with them._

"_It's the first time we've ever—**ever—**heard **either** of them talk!" Tasha McNack, a young teen girl from Burnoose High who had been there during this scene, says. "I've always dreamed of them talking to me, or just hearing their voice. I never thought it would be like this! His[Kaze's] voice is **so** amazing. I wonder what Nami sounds like." Other witnesses report that The Black Rider was completely silent in the duration of all of this._

_However, hearing Kaze's voice—many in the crowd were able to record it and over four hundred videos have already been submitted to Youtube, one having over three million views in the course of fifteen hours—was, surprisingly not the most astonishing thing to happen in this. No, readers, something far more interesting took place on this busy night on Pleasant Avenue. We have confirmed that, as rumor states, the wheels of the famous twin black Suzuki GSX-Rs glowed a faint blue before the Namikaze Riders began to drive up—yes, **up**—the side of the nearest skyscraper, the tallest in East Harlem._

_This course of amazing events lead us to speculate that, maybe, the Riders are not as lacking in superpowers as we may have thought. What other surprises will our most unpredictable, surprising, and mysterious heroes bring us next?_

_(Read more on page four, 'Dr. H. Nakamura's Theories on the Rider's Origin and Abilities.')_

A few of the Avengers were confused, but Tony caught on immediately. "Fury, you don't know anything about them—cuz if you did, _this_," he tapped the paper on the table, "would be a detailed file in a manila folder and not a newspaper. And you want them on the _team_?"

The others looked up, surprised. They'd been together for four years now, and gotten settled just fine, used to working with each others quirks and even joked about them now. No new kids, just them. And now Fury wanted to bring in these two absolutely unknowns, in their tightly knitted family? It didn't sit well with them.

On the other hand, however, they weren't stupid. They knew how useful the Namikaze Riders would be. They showed extreme skill and were now giving them glimpses of strange powers. It seemed they didn't take any grief from anyone and went about things their own way. It also made sense for this fact—Fury didn't want to wild cards running around. He liked having control of things. If a situation arise dint he future and the Riders were somehow involved, he wouldn't be the grand puppet master. The Riders would be uncalculating variables.

But they also recognized that look, in the directors eye. Bruce and Clint followed Steve's lead, and stood up with a sigh. Natasha polished her gun and Tony popped the tiny kink in his neck form working hours on end in the lab. Thor watched them with curiosity. He was still clueless, sometimes. Well, that was fine. They didn't want him to change.

"Alright." Tony spoke up, as unofficial leader of the Avengers. "Where do we start?"

**-switch-**

The fight against Madara hadn't been too long after Naruto and his, as of then, only remaining teammate, Sakura, had been whisked away to the alternate Konoha. Naruto had told Sasuke about it sometime during their scouting of this new dimension—there hadn't been any time before. His betrayal of Madara was too quick for any of them to actually get some time in together before the mad man had attacked. In this copy world, the Uchiha-turned-Namikaze had heard, Shikamaru was stupid, Kiba had hated dogs and was a cat person, Hinata was just plain scary and Ino had been a shy and timid girl. Sakura's parents were the hero that had defeated Kyuubi—who they now knew as Kurama—and her father had been Hokage. Chouji didn't like eating too much, Shino disliked bugs, Akamaru was after Kiba's head, and Naruto's name had been Menma.

He really couldn't see it. But Team 7 had certainly seen stranger things, no matter how broken up they were. And Naruto had told him many, many stories—so he had proof of that.

Now that he thought about it, he realized what an idiot he'd been. So utterly pathetic. And to think, if it wasn't for Naruto, he'd still be that weak, emo avenger chasing after pointless dreams that would never see reality and following the lead of a psychotic man lost to insanity.

The very thought of that once being a very real possibility made his skin crawl and his chest feel cold.

But just because Naruto was his savior and brother and last teammate—making him his partner now—didn't mean the blond wasn't still an idiot sometimes. It was like the Uzumaki-turned-Namikaze hadn't matured in the past years at all! Which Sasuke knew wasn't true...

"What are you doing, dobe?" He hissed, bringing back that much-despised nickname. He only used it when he wanted Naruto to take him seriously—and, oh, he was serious right now.

And it worked, Naruto's head shot up, blond hair flying around. It was in the style of the Yondaime now, since he'd grown it out, but flatter, since he actually brushed his hair now, and more of a gold-bordering-on-copper color than Minato's had ever been. He'd been in the process of taking off his helmet. "What? What did I do?"

Sasuke let out a small, barely heard sound of frustration as he motioned toward the other room. They were standing in their garage, which was under their headquarters that no one was allowed to know about except them. It was a rather large warehouse, but it was what's under it that counted. Naruto always commented on how he sometimes felt like Batman, from the comics he liked to read, when they drove into the garage. It was white all over and light came from everywhere. The doors opened on their own out of the rock face of the cliff, since they warehouse was situated right next tot he waterfront.

All the fancy stuff like this didn't matter much to Sasuke, but Naruto really wanted to go all out. Really wanted to. And they did have the money for it, with the side-jobs they took as mercenaries—known to the underworld as Ying and Yang(however cheesy that was)—so it wasn't like it cost them much. And Naruto really wanted it. So how could Sasuke say no?

He forever cursed the part of him that had developed a soft-spot for his brother. Forever cursed it. It had ruined his stoic Uchiha image.

Not that he was an Uchiha anymore.

Naruto glanced in the direction he'd indicated. On one of the walls, there was a large pane of bulletproof glass that showed into the other room and vice-cersa, sort of like a viewing-area that looked out into the garage. Inside, he could see the little Precious girl they'd rescued. She was sitting in one of the chairs, with her knees drawn up to her chest, staring at the ground. She most likely hadn't realized that they were taking their helmets off yet.

He let out a sigh, knowing what his brother was referring to. "I just—C'mon, 'Ke. It wasn't—She reminded me of... you know..."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, before glancing back at the girl again. He brought up a gloved hand to rub at his eyes, and he nodded slowly. "Yeah. I know, 'Ru. She looks a little like a miniature Anko."

Naruto nodded furiously. "Exactly! Just, with longer hair, darker tan and a lot more innocent looking..." He leaned back on his motorcycle. "It's just... She's homeless, too, y'know? You can tell just by looking at her."

"O Kami,," Sasuke let out a soft groan. "It's your Saving-People thing again, isn't it?"

"I don't have a Hero-Complex!" Naruto seethed, before closing his eyes. "But... trust me on this. Please, Ke? _Pleeeaaaase_? We'll just give her some food and new clothes and then—and then we'll take her to the X-men, how about that?"He looked up in question.

Sasuke's eyes widened. "No! No—I can't believe you're such an idiot—Kyuu! Talk some sense into him, please!"

"**'Ke's right, Kit. She already knows were the HQ is, and the entrance to the garage, and everything. We can't really allow her to leave without the risk of her blabbing it to someone.**" A muffled voice said from Naruto's position. He reached into his shirt and pulled out a small chain. A metal dog tag was attached to it, bearing strange marks in black ink on it. This was a seal.

Kyuubi had, of course, come along with them when they'd been forced into this new word by Madara. He still resided within Naruto, since the blond was his Jinchuuriki and the bijuu didn't really want to leave anymore. He'd gotten a bit attached to Naruto, not that he'd admit it. But they all knew it. Naruto had gotten tired of relaying whatever the demon said to Sasuke when the two had a conversation, so he'd taken out his vast knowledge of seals to look for a way to allow them to communicate without using him as a conduit. Anyone could hear Kyuubi if he spoke through that seal, now—the seal acted like a small speaker, and the volume depended on Kurama himself. Naruto reminded himself to inform Kyuu not to speak around the girl for now, least he freaked her out, as he opened his mouth.

"Kyuu! Why?" He frowned. "I mean, I get the secrecy thing and all, but that doesn't mean we have to keep her here. That'd be like kidnapping! We'd be holding her captive, especially if she wanted to leave. Against her will! She wouldn't tell anyone, why can't we just let her go!"

"We don't need anyone, let alone the X-men of all people, to know anymore about us than they already do. And if the X-men find out anything, SHIELD will most likely know it too, and then so would the Avengers. And then, practically everyone else in the world." Sasuke said, trying to be the voice of reason.

Naruto shook his head. "But she wouldn't tell anyone!"

"**How do you know?**' Kurama asked him, nudging the teen's conscious a little to get his attention. "**I thought we'd dealt with this thrusting-trust-out-to-random-strangers thing, 'Ru. And besides, you said so yourself. 'Especially if she wanted to leave,' right? Who's to say she **_**wouldn't**_** want to **_**stay**_**?**'

"C'mon, 'Ru." Sasuke tugged on his brother's jacket. "Where'd all that sense of yours go? You know you don't have to keep up the 'happy-go-lucky, utterly-determined-no-matter-what, all-smiles-all-around little orange-clad idiot' mask anymore. At least, not with us."

Naruto seemed to deflate a little, but you wouldn't have noticed it if you didn't know him, or if you didn't live in his mind. Which Sasuke and Kurama did. Respectively. "We should at least give her a chance to have a say in it."

They sighed. "**Just keep in mind the Promise, 'Ru.**" The Kyuubi warned.

Sasuke closed his eyes, nodding. "That's right. Only you and me, 'Ru. There's no one else."

Naruto stared back with a serious look. "_Hai_."

And that was the end of it, really. Naruto seemed adamant about giving her some decision.

Not that it would really count. But the blond didn't need to know that.

**-switch-**

Jubilee looked up when she heard the door open. Slowly, of course. She didn't know what to expect. But what she saw made her heart almost stop. She knew from his voice that Kaze would be hot, but this was mind-blowing! And Nami was no regular good-looking guy either. They'd beat any of the super-models she'd seen—at least, in her brief possession of magazines. And the media's metaphor wasn't too far off either. They really were equal and opposite.

Both were of the same hight and lithe, tightly muscle packed frames, with Kaze perhaps a little slimmer than Nami was. They held themselves in the same, relaxed-yet-ready-for-battle postures, and both had slightly spiky hair. But just about anyone could tell that by looking at them, helmets on, or staring at the grainy pictures on the newspaper for long enough. Still, that was were the physical similarities ended.

Nami had pitch black hair that was spiked toward the back, and a long bangs that was shifted off to the right—from where she was looking—side of his face. His skin was really pale, but not so much that it made him look pasty, and his eyes were like two black holes with some crimson and brighter red streaks in them, in a way that they would make even the inky galaxy jealous. His stance was just slightly different, perhaps more like a snake ready to strike than Kaze's, which more resembled a fox ready to pounce.

And Kaze had shimmering golden hair with a slight coppery tint to it. It was also spiked, but less so than Nami's was, and he had two, long and thin bangs that framed his face, which was more round than Nami's angular complexion. His skin was sun-kissed and as flawless as Nami's, and his eyes had to be the bluest blue she'd ever seen, putting every clear sky and crystal ocean to utter shame. He was probably only a centimeter smaller than Nami, but you couldn't really tell unless you stared intensely at them for a long amount of time... like she was.. right now...

Jubilee squeaked a little and fell back in her seat, hitting her shoulder on the back of the chair. "U-Um! Hi?" She started, lamely. She saw the edges of Kaze's blue eyes crinkle, like he was holding in a chuckle, and Nami raised an eyebrow, the corner of his mouth twitched ever so slightly. Honestly, she'd expect Kaze to laugh, more than she did Nami. The Black Rider seemed to be the more stoic of the two. Not that she had any knowledge of them. They had both remained silent as of now, aside form Kaze's curt, "Come with us."

But Kaze gave her a kind smile, and opened his mouth. "Was that a question? You gotta be more clear than that, sweetheart."

Jubilee's face turned beet red, and she just missed Nami sending a small frown over at his partner when she hid her eyes behind her hand sin embarrassment. She took a few seconds to compose herself, before deciding to just be herself. It didn't matter if these two guys were amazingly hot or her heroes. Her saviors. Her incredibly sexy and strong and ninja-like saviors—Yeah. That didn't matter at all.

Swiping her hands away from her face, Jubilee leaned forward, staring up at the semi-surprised face of Kaze, probably from the determined look on her own face. "Hello," she intoned, quite seriously.

Kaze and Nami stared at her for a few seconds, and Jubilee had to mentally slap her self to keep the blush away, ignoring the pounding n her ribcage.

Then, Kaze started laughing. His deep-but-not-too-deep voice reverberated off the walls of the all-white room and Jubilee lost the battle against the tomato color.

Nami's face remained slightly cold, and he only watched as the White Rider laughed, but Jubilee could see the beginnings of irritation as he glanced at Kaze again. Yeah, he was definitely the more serious of the two Riders.

"I like you," Kaze announced, and Jubilee decided to just forgo any sense of dignity she had left in favor of bringing up her hand to slap herself in the face. They both raised an eyebrow this time, but it seem to have worked, a the red was receding slightly. At least, her cheeks didn't feel hot anymore, but that might have been because she'd just knocked all the feeling out of her face.

"I like you, you." She replied, before her eyes widened in horror. "Oh, gods. I did _not_ just say that out loud."

Kaze began to chuckle again, casting a helpless look at Nami when the other jabbed his shoulder with a scolding look. Nami shook his head and turned back, sighing. "What's your name?" He asked kindly, in contrast to his cold appearance.

While Kaze's voice was deep-enough to send shivers down your spine and reminded you of a relaxing nap on a warm summer beach somewhere in Hawaii, Nami's voice made you remembers those cold snowy nights in winter, sitting right in front of the heater with a fire under the mantle and a cup of hot chocolate in your hand. They both sounded soothing and practically gorgeous. Smooth words and tones that just made you wanna melt. And she'd barely heard more than three sentences.

Man, they were good.

"Jubilee." She told him. "My name's Jubilee." She blushed again when he smiled and ducked her head, tugging the bill of her baseball cap down to cover her eyes.

"Awww," Kaze cooed at her. "That's so adorable!" She reddened even more. No! No, she wasn't adorable! She was sexy! She was a mean, hot, sexy machine! She was—oh, who could she fool? She sunk down a bit lower, and he turned to his partner. "See, 'Ke? Told you so."

"When?" Nami frowned in confusion. "Told me what?"

Kaze shook his head, waving a hand in dismissal before turning back to little Jubilee, who was now staring up at them. "Alright, Jubilee. So," He leaned down a bit—the two Riders were a good foot or so taller than her—and smiled again. "'Ke here—or Nami, as you call him—says now that we've brought you here, you should stay with us. But I say you should have a choose to stay here or go to the X-men. Whaddya say?"

Jubilee froze at the sudden responsibility of making an important decision thrust at her while Nami pinched the bridge of his nose, shoving Kaze away slightly. "Too honest for your own good, 'Ru. You could have said it less bluntly." He turned toward Jubilee. "There's really no way you're allowed to say no. I honestly wouldn't let you leave even if you wanted to, but _Kaze_ here demanded that you be given a choice, however little and transparent it may be."

As he said this, Jubilee remained frozen. Here she was, standing in the _headquarters_ of the _Namikaze Riders_, who were apparently called 'Ke and 'Ru(to Nami and Kaze respectively—they'd told her their real _names_! Indirectly, of course, since they'd been addressing each other, but _still_!), and they were asking _her_ to _stay_ with them. Like, _live_ in their _headquarters_, with _them_.

Though, on the other hand, she kind of needed to go the the X-men. Aside form that being her life dream, they were the only ones, she thought, that could train her, and help her control those cursed powers of hers. The ones that had ruined her life. She needed to control them, show them she was the one in charge and that they couldn't rule her existence any longer. How else could she do that witohut the X-men's help?

Still, Nami—or 'Ke, she guessed—had said she didn't really have a choice, even though Kaze—'Ru, apparently—venomously claimed she totally did. The White Rider was in the process of glaring slightly at the impassive Nami, and the sight made her giggle slightly. They looked at her, and she beamed. The choice was made, however hesitantly. And as Nami had said—she didn't really have one. She'd noticed the under-message. This was really just for Kaze's peace of mind. He didn't want to keep her here against her will. She thought that was _really_ sweet.

"Y-You mean... I can stay here? With—with you guys?" Her eyes must've been stars, she thought, as Nami looked over to Kaze with a "see?" look.

Kaze's look worried. "You _want_ to? Are you sure?"

Jubilee nodded furiously. "Absolutely! Ohmygod—I mean, this is, like, every person's _dream_! To stay with the _Namikaze Riders_..." She trailed off, grinning. She was caught in another daydream.

Nami glanced over at Kaze and raised an eyebrow. "I—"

"—told me so," Kaze sighed. "Yeah, I know."

Jubilee examined Kaze's slouched form for a minute or so, contemplating. He really seemed disappointed that they wouldn't take her to the X-men. She at first thought it was because that, maybe, Kaze didn't want to deal with a kid like her—they were just barely a few years older than her, she realized. They probably wouldn't know the first thing of taking care of kids—and she would probably just get in the way. But the more she thought on the situation, she found that it wasn't that. It was more that Kaze cared for her safety and didn't want her to get hurt. These were the Namikaze Riders, she told herself. They got into fights just about every week and probably had a ton of bounties on their heads from beaten enemies that wanted revenge—just like the other super heroes. That was the reason Superheroes hid their identities.

It was sweet, though, how Kaze was looking out for her. Nami seemed like he could honestly care less, but she caught the looks he threw at her when she wasn't looking. He was worried—about what, she didn't know. Maybe the don't-know-a-thing-about-caring-for-kids-and-she'll-get-in-our-way applied more to him than Kaze's she'll-get-hurt-if-she-stays-with-us. It made sense.

She just wondered how her life would change from here.

**-switch-**

"**See Kit? She wanted to stay anyway. It all works out.**"

"She could get hurt!"

"Anybody could get hurt. Anywhere, at any time of the day. It's a part of life."

"But there's a much higher chance of that if she stays with us!"

"**I don't see why you're so worked up about this. I mean, you send all of your other victims—sorry, rescued Precious People—to the X-men anyway. And don't **_**they**_** train them all to do this kind of work?**"

"That's different, Kyuu! At Xavier Institute, there's always someone to watch them and stuff; we won't always be here to keep track of her!"

"She's thirteen, 'Ru, almost fourteen." Sasuke stressed, getting frustrated. "When _we_ were that age, we were going out on _assassination _missions!"

Naruto spun around to pin him with an intense look. "Yeah, but we were trained in the art of silent killing since the age of four, 'Ke. She's not."

"**Well, she's one of the Precious People, isn't she?**" Kurama interrupted. "**So you'll just have to protect her. And this'll be easier, since you'll know exactly where she is all the time.**"

Naruto let out a breath, backing away. He clutched at Kurama's dog tag with a contemplative look on his face. Sasuke watched him as he made a decision. Jubilee was asleep in the room he'd prepared for her while Naruto had given her dinner and some spare clothes—that reminded Sasuke of a prison uniform, or what those science expiriments wore when Orochimaru wasn't working on them; a dull light gray long sleeve, formless shirt and matching pants of the same material and color, and dark gray slip ons. It wasn't ideal, but it had been the only thing they'd had in her size. Naruto was going to find a way to take her shopping later that week; and by Kami they had the money for it—and they had many many of those empty guest rooms to spare. He wasn't sure why Naruto had insisted on practically building a mansion facility under the warehouse, but he had. Or, his clones had.

He blinked when Naruto looked up. "Right. We'll just protect her, then, won't we?" He looked over at Sasuke—and Sasuke, seeing that Naruto just needed some reassurance from a brother, nodded his head with a small smile.

Of course they would. They'd promised, hadn't they?

**-switch-**

**CONFIRMINATION—No. This fic will have NO PAIRINGS. Well, at least not with the Riders. Sasuke and Naruto shall remain single, as due to their promise not to let anyone but each other close to them.**

**Anyway... yeah. Review o-o**

**~Scylar X**


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